The news all over the place regarding the 2016 election is that there is a good chance that it will come down to two all-too familiar names in American politics: Bush and Clinton. Clinton and Bush.
But there were other names in the mix, at least on the Republican side. Romney seemed to be flirting with making a run, then ultimately, and probably wisely, opted against it.
Then, there are some relatively prominent names, such as Rand Paul and Chris Christie, both of whom very likely will make a run in 2016. There has been speculation about some other big name Republicans, including Rubio and Ryan, to name just a couple. You can probably add some speculation regarding Sarah Palin as well, who undeniably will never win another major election again. She may be physically attractive, but as a serious political candidate, leaves a lot to be desired. Basically, she betrays this harsh truth every time that she opens her mouth.
As for the Democrats, there is some speculation about who else might be running other than Clinton. Maybe Joe Biden? Maybe Elisabeth Warren, even though she has already stated that she will not run for president in 2016?
Who knows.
And honestly, who cares.
Neither of the two major parties have the potential to field someone that we need to be in the White House, because both parties lack the honesty, integrity, discipline, patriotism, and objectivity to get someone in there that will make a difference. At most, there might be another Barack Obama circa 2008, a person that can temporarily capture people's imaginations and convince them (briefly), that real and meaningful change is coming.
But once in the White House, just like it was with Barack Obama, it will largely be more of the same. Politics as usual, which these days essentially means corrupt business and lobbyist deals as usual.
More of the same.
Many people have wanted that third party option, some viable alternative to either the Democrats or the Republicans. I have been among them, because it seems that a country of well over 300 million cannot adequately have their interests advanced by a one-party system that poses as a two-party system, to provide people with the illusion of choice. They agree on far too much, but make a big show of those few things that they allegedly do not agree on. The biggest thing that they agree on, however, is that they should remain in charge, and in the privileged position of being catered to by corporate special interests. It has worked for them for a very long time, and in order for things to continue on as they have for so long, despite massive popular discontent, they need to discredit any possible alternative to them as not viable, lacking credibility. If you vote for someone other than a Democrat or a Republican, you are "wasting your vote". So it is suggested, repeatedly.
And everyone seems so surprised when nothing changes!
There is one potential candidate who might truly represent change, although he is neither a Democrat or a Republican. That would be Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent form Vermont, who has consistently criticized both parties, although he has been particularly vocal in his criticism of the obstructionist Republican Congress.
Sanders, being independent of both of the major parties, would actually place his country ahead of his party, something that he would likely be alone in among the major Presidential candidates in 2016, no matter what they might say. He wants far more stringent environmental regulations and policies, he fights for the middle class and against the corporate culture of trickle-down economics. In this, he has been especially vocal and effective, and consistently points out the paradoxes of the elitist culture of the 1%, particularly the Billionaire's Club.
Here is a perfect example: he is taking the Koch brothers to task for their efforts to effectively buy elections in order to advance a very neocon political and economic agenda for the country, to keep it going even faster in the direction that it has been heading in since at least the days of Ronald Reagan, if not perhaps even Richard Nixon (with a possible small reprieve during the Carter years).
Yes, at some point, if we want change, we have to actually force things a little bit more than we have been doing, and Sanders has a straight-shooting style that is exactly what the country needs right now. It is so refreshing to have a nationally prominent office holder, a Senator in this case, actually address the real issues in this country, without hypocrisy or some hidden agenda. His record, to my knowledge, has been untarnished, and he has consistently favored those things that would be in the best interests of the working class and poor in the United States, rather than giving yet still more advantages to those who already have the most, by far. He sees the socio-economic divide between the have and have nots in this country, and exposes the dark underbelly of what decades of these elitist policies and the ever popular "deregulation" bug have done. Sanders is a fighter, and he fights against these trends at every turn, no matter who is advancing these special interests, without having to worry about towing the party line, since he has no party.
We need a change. And although I cannot predict that he will win, he offers a refreshingly honest style. This is exactly the kind of man that we need in the White House, rather than yet another pretty face rehashing the official party line, which itself is regurgitating the unofficial corporate agenda for this country.
If we are serious about taking the country back from the elites, then we have to take Sanders seriously as a Presidential candidate in 2016. If anything is ever going to change, it needs to actually happen, and we cannot afford to keep pushing it off further and further into the future, while things assuredly keep growing worse and worse in the meantime.
Let's take a look at Bernie Sanders for President in 2016!
Bernie Sanders Terrifies the Koch Brothers By Outting Their Role In the Government Shutdown By: Jason Easleymore from Jason Easley Monday, October, 7th, 2013
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/07/bernie-sanders-terrifies-koch-brothers-outting-role-government-shutdown.html
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